WHAT A PERFORMANCE | City theatre group playing its part in spreading social awareness, commitment runs this show

At Tagore Theatre on a sultry August evening, artistes of the Alankar theatre group re hearse for an upcoming theatre festival in Delhi. Founding director Chakresh Kumar Yadav (33) imagines what the stage will be when they draw the curtains back in the capital. “We are thinking new possibilities. This season will highlight cultural change.“

Since Alankaar came up in 2005, the local theatre community has become more inclusive. “But,“ Yadav said, “more work needs to be done.“

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Yadav found his calling in acting at 14. Playing a farmer, he fell over a glass table by accident. Even though bleeding from the arm, he was so immersed in the character that he carried on. “I could not feel any pain.After the act, a thunderous applause from the audience was enough to heal my wounds,“ says the artiste. The performance won him the best actor award.

He joined Punjab University when his father worked at the Chandimandir cantonment. Performing skits kept his passion for acting arrive. When he was in second year, paralysis indisposed his father and Yadav had to quit studies.Financial constraints compelled him to do odd jobs to support his family . “The six-month hiatus from theatre felt like something amiss. But, at the same time, I wanted my younger brother to be free of the burden of family troubles,“ says the actor. His brother joined the country's premiere acting institute, National School of Drama (NSD).

Yadav returned to Chandigarh and took to street theatre under the guidance
of Umesh Kant and Rani Balbir Kaur. He featured in more than 50 one-act plays before going on to form a theatre group with co-actors. “Our mission got a boost when our tenth show, of Macbeth, got national coverage on Doordarshan.“

ACTING FOR CHANDIGARH

The group invited professors from eminent acting schools to review its performances. NSD's Harishchandra was first to accept. Yadav sees theatre as a launch pad for the changes he'd like to see in Chandigarh. “From small stage starts big movements,“ Ya dav says. The theatre company runs workshops for artistes who want to hone their skills, learn what they don't teach you at conventional acting schools such as NSD or the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

SMALL GROUP, BIG CONTRIBUTION

These have been amazing 12 years, in which several of the artistes we trained or intro duced went on to have a successful career,“ says company's assistant director Rajesh Kashyap (32). Ya dav says: “To be the voice of wom
en and ethnic diversity is still left to independent theatre or small festivals.“

To set theatre on a path of exploration, Yadav takes unplanned trips. “The trip to Kargil is my most cherished memory. The journey through Ladakh filled solemnness into my mind,“ Yadav says.

Yadav, though, is miffed at the way big theatre has been invaded by corporate giants for profit. “The excellence that we strive for is marred by commer
cialisation. They (business houses) have exposed theatre to prostitution,“ he said.

A DIVERSE CAST

The participants are trained in char acter detailing. In one-on-one con versations with each other, they use it to get into the skin of their characters. The training shows in the acting and singing skills of the 40-strong cast.Choreography is from the top drawer.
“If we have the character of a transgender in any play, we spend months with them, studying every aspect of their lives. If we don't have access to someone, say politicians, we pick up their mannerisms from books and documentaries,“ Yadav says. “The director's performance makes or breaks a show, like a chef can do with curry .“

THE BEST JOB

People have quit well-paying jobs to join Alankar. One of them, Nikhil Modi, 24, said: “I have an acting bug since childhood, when I used to mimic the guest at every wedding. My family supported my decision of getting into theatre,“ he said. The director's wife, Manju Yadav, is acting in her own-written play, `First Teacher', based on hurdles before the third gender. “Alankar has given us a platform to educate people who are difficult to persuade. The mission is to bridge the many divides in our country,“ said Dhananjay (47), first transgender to be enrolled in Punjab University .

SURVIVAL INSTINCT

The budget for the next production is made out of whatever the group members collect or contribute. “Theatre is losing its vehemence, and with it, its popularity . We are short of money,“ says Yadav, “but the support of a few diehard patrons helps our theatre survive.“

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